Crist 48, Scott 38 in new Q poll with Dem-leaning sample

Despite a TV ad blitz by Republican Gov. Rick Scott, Democrat Charlie Crist continues to hold a big lead in a new Quinnipiac University poll that includes a Democrat-leaning voter sample sure to raise Republican hackles.

Crist gets 48 percent and Scott gets 38 percent in the new poll. That’s basically the same lead Crist held in Quinnipiac’s poll three months ago, before Scott and his allies poured $6 million or more into TV ads promoting the incumbent and trashing Crist.

The new poll of 1,413 registered Florida voters was conducted April 23 – 28 and has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points. Quinnipiac’s longstanding practice is to ask voters which party they identify with, rather than their actual registration, with the argument that self-identification is a better gauge of voter mood. The latest sample found 31 percent saying they consider themselves Democrats, 25 percent Republicans, 34 percent independent and 11 percent identifying with other parties or saying they didn’t know.

During the 2010 midterm elections, exit polls found 36 percent of Florida voters who cast ballots identifying as Democrats, 36 percent as Republicans and 29 percent as independents. In actual statewide registrations, Democrats have a 39.2-to-35.1 percent advantage over Republicans.

Other highlights of the new Quinnipiac poll after the jump…

** Even with the Democratic lean of the poll, Scott leads Democrat Nan Rich by a 42-to-36 percent margin. Eighty-five percent of voters say they don’t know enough about Rich to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of her.

** Scott continues to have a dismal job-approval rating, with 42 percent approving and 50 percent disapproving. By a 52-to-38 percent margin, voters say they approved of the job Crist did as governor when he held the office from 2007 to 2011 after being elected as a Republican.

** By a 53-to-39 percent margin, voters say Scott does not deserve to be re-elected.

** Asked if Crist is “honest and trustworthy,” 45 percent agree and 43 percent say he’s not — a wash, considering the poll’s margin of error. For Scott, 51 percent say he’s not honest and trustworthy and 38 percent say he is.

** Crist’s switch from Republican to independent in 2010 and from independent to Democrat in 2012 is viewed positively by 52 percent of voters and negatively by 40 percent.

** Asked if “an illegal immigrant who went to high school in Florida and is accepted to a Florida public college should be eligible for the in-state tuition rate,” 55 percent agree and 41 percent disagree.